Why are there days that you feel very creative and then there are others when you can't think of anything except just getting through the day? I keep thinking that I need to write, but when it comes right down to it, I'm not really sure what to say.

I think maybe working on Taylor's mission blog seems to be enough, which doesn't really take a lot of effort or creativity on my part, because he writes the letter and sends the pictures--I simply add the new post. However, if you notice, I did add a link to Brazilian radio this time. Pretty nifty. I'm listening to it this very moment. Maybe that will inspire me.

I keep looking at my house and wondering when it's going to go into self-clean mode. So far that's not happening. My kids barely get their own jobs done, and then I end up doing some of them anyway. A couple weeks ago I was cooking and started looking around--wow. I don't think I've done any "real" cleaning all summer. Oh I've vacuumed here and there, the bathroom got cleaned now and then (mostly Corky's doing--he's totally awesome at the bathroom), and I know I've cleaned off the kitchen counters, at least the part that shows. Hmm, maybe the part that doesn't show is what really needs cleaning--it doesn't show because there's stuff on that part.

So, I think I need to really, really clean. The carpet. The kitchen. My bedroom. Oh, don't go in there. That's the home for everything that doesn't have a home. But I think that's going to change. I hate that I have a messy room. I want my kids' rooms to be clean (like that happens), so how can I tell them to clean when my room's a mess? But then I have an excuse for that, too--I have to take care of the rest of the house and never have time for my room. It's the last on the list, but maybe that should change.

I gave up on my garden--I think there just wasn't enough water. And those darn weeds. Holy cow--I got started digging them, but then something happened and I quit. I know there are potatoes down in the ground and I need to seek them out. I hear them calling my name and crying for sunlight. Do you think they truly understand what that means to their ultimate survival? Perhaps they are there just for my starchy enjoyment. I know I planted red spuds, Yukon Golds and I can't remember the other one. I think it might have been a kind of purply potato. Way too long ago to remember. I think this next month I want to clean out my perfect garden spot and get the tiller again. I have been filling up my compost bin--big black bin that the squirrel frequents--I know I don't do it exactly right, but there's got to be some good "organic material" in there. I have a lot of leaves to rake, too. I think if I get all of that good stuff and till it in, I've got to have some good dirt next year, right? And I have some ideas for more water. I even want to enclose it so I don't get the stupid seeds from my neighbor's trees, then I could just brush them off (or back into their yard) and not have to pull up 12,687 baby trees. (No, I didn't count them, but that's a really good, honest estimate.)

And manure. That's going to be my main focus next year. Have you ever focused on manure? I want clean manure, and no that's not really an oxymoron, it's real. Horse manure is full of seeds and weeds because it goes right through them. I want manure that will fertilize and not give me a new brand of weeds in my garden. That's what happened a few years ago, and I'm still pulling out those babies. Well, digging 'cause they won't pull. These buggers grow out, not down and they just break off if you pull. Totally ticks me off.

I look at my front yard, which in years past has been beautiful, but this year it really wasn't. Not nearly as much color as in the past. Not sure why, but I know I haven't really been as attentive there, either.

Okay, so if I've put off things like cleaning, weeding and tending to my yard/garden, what have I been doing all summer? Well, swimming lessons for one. Some picnics. Cub Scouts. Primary music. Not cooking much dinner. Oh yeah, that's supposed to be in the other category--the one of what I've not done. Hmm, I don't really know. Just living day to day, I guess.

I think I've been a slug much of the last year, but that's changing. At work we are having a contest, a walking contest; individually and between the differing floors. We were given a pedometer and I think I'm doing okay. Not totally sure because I don't know what other people are averaging, but I have been fairly diligent in walking nearly every day. I walk Jake to school in the morning and then I go down and around through the neighborhood. And wow--the days I go to Walmart I get a ton of steps (I'm actually considering them miles and not steps because it makes me feel a lot better). Well, you know how it is at Walmart, you get stuff on one side of the store, walk to the other and then remember something from the first side again. And then once you get there, you realize you got the wrong thing from the other side. And it's miles across that store, literally. The other night I realized we were about out of milk so I stopped on my way home from work. From my car, straight to the back where the milk resides and back to my car, no zigzagging across the store, it was 606 steps (miles in my estimation). In the middle of the night it really does feel more like miles.

So, I've been walking, and enjoying it. Jake doesn't thrill on it in the mornings. I think he's looking forward to snow so we'll drive, but I might just have other plans. What are snowboots and coats and hats and mittens for if not to walk out in the snow???? I have some great boots and he's due for a new pair. I don't think new boots will be much of an incentive for him, however. There are a couple of families in our neighborhood who also walk to school, who have little kids; one in Kindergarten and the other in 1st grade. Jake loves it when we run into them. The little 4-year old sister hops off her bike to come and flirt with Jake. He loves it. Makes me chuckle.

I keep walking with my hands on my hips to see if they are disappearing. They haven't. How long does it take? There's a sign in the kitchen that boasts the virtues of walking--one is lowering blood pressure. We found out that I have high blood pressure and I really don't want to take any medication. I like the fact that I don't "take" anything. Earlier this summer I started taking calcium and some vitamins, but that doesn't really count, at least not in my mind. I had a colonoscopy and a polypectomy this summer and the doctors and nurses were amazed that I wasn't on anything. I liked that. But they did give me a hard time about my blood pressure. So, I'm hoping that the putting one foot in front of the other will also do the trick in the lowering of the pressure. Corky even bought me a kit to check, but no, it hasn't yet gone down. I haven't checked this week, maybe when I get home. Being tired and half asleep ought to make it lower, no?

Anyway, I think I like the walking. It makes me feel good and feel like I'm at least doing something for my health. I used to be a good walker, and then something happened and last year I hardly walked to school at all. Maybe it was Jake--he hates walking. And then I was always tired, so I was willing to drive and then come home and go back to bed. I always look so longingly at my bed as soon as I get out of it. This morning I even patted it and said I'd be back as soon as I could. . .okay I know that's strange, but it's so very true!

I have been helping a neighbor girl learn to sew. It's fun! She's happy and we're both having fun. We've sewn for two weeks and she has a pair of cute jammie bottoms. I'm going to help her do pillow cases for her Christmas presents. It's fun to have someone excited to sew. I love it and can't believe that more people don't like to sew. I know a lot who say they can't stand taking out the bad stitches, but that just doesn't bother me. My oldest sister is a quilter and I know she used to sew, but I don't know how much or if she still does (clothes I'm talking). And then my next sister said in high school when she got a job at Sears that she couldn't wait to not ever sew again. I think she has here and there, but she'd rather not. And I love to sew. It's relaxing to me. My kids are going on Trek this next summer and I'm planning their clothes now. I don't want to be rushed, and I really want to have fun with it. I have this very cool pattern for a shirt for Dante--he's going to look really cool. We tried to find Grandma's pattern for her pioneer dress, but that didn't happen. We found her dress so I brought it home. I'm hoping to find something similar because I don't really want to take it apart to make a pattern and then have to sew it up again, as well as two other dresses for Moni. I'll find something.

And then, I love this, I'm helping a friend make Barbie clothes for her girlies for Christmas. We cut out a bunch of stuff, then she went home and I kept cutting. Then I just couldn't stand it and I had to sew, not everything, but a little. Just to get a taste of it again! I was really excited because I serged a tiny rolled hem stitch around the neckline of a pretty pink Barbie blouse. Turning it down and sewing is really a pain when it's that small, so the hem looked great. Of course the pink thread might not look as good on Ken's flannel shirt, so I'll have to see what other threads I have that will blend. Oh hey, we found Naugahyde (spelling?) to make cowboy vests; white for Barbie and tan for Ken. I'm going to try and make chaps. I have blue bandanna fabric for Ken's shirt and red for Barbie. Now if we can find a cowboy hat for them. How cool is that? Wedding dresses, jammies, regular clothes and evening wear. I even have silky black for a vest and pants for Ken to get married in. If Barbie has a wedding dress I think Ken should sport more than the flannel shirt. . .

Hmm, for someone with nothing to say I always end up yakking quite a bit.